Shane Lechler to visit Texans

Posted by Josh Alper on March 20, 2013, 5:43 PM EDT

AP

There hasn’t been much action around punters in free agency yet, but we’ll get some on Thursday.

John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports that’s when Shane Lechler will visit the Texans. McClain points out that the Texans were also interested in Lechler the last time he became a free agent, but the Raiders gave him a huge contract to remain in Oakland.

That won’t be happening this time around which makes Lechler a prime target for any team in need of a punter. He’s getting older, but there’s little reason to think one of the league’s best punters for the last decade will suddenly lose his ability to boot the football. Lechler has been to seven Pro Bowls and was the punter on the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 2000s.

Donnie Jones set franchise records for the Texans in gross and net averages last year. He’s a free agent as well.

Team don’t pay FB’s and punters, when contract time comes most of them get cut. Makes trying to understand the Jaguars decision to draft Anger in the 3rd round more puzzling when Donnie Jones is swinging in the wind.

The guy is a (HOF) no doubt, one of my favorite raiders of all time. The kid King they kept on the practice squad has a leg, and I think that is where the Raiders are going to go this year.

The bad thing is, I don’t think Sea Bass will be the same without Shane. Shane was a great holder, and Sea Bass was never the same when Shane was not holding. A Sea Bass trade makes sense if they let Shane go. He has great value for a team that has playoff hopes.

this is the difference between Al’s Raiders and the new regime.Al would have already re-signed him by now.There is a reason the Raiders have been lousy for over a decade and giving field goal kickers and punters big contracts was part of the problem and not the solution.